FM Qureshi arrives in Russia vis-à-vis Afghan dialogue process

Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shah Mahmood Qureshi has reached Russia– the last stop of the four-nation tour– today (Wednesday, Dec 26) to discuss the matter of regional security after the breakthrough in the Afghan dialogue process last week. He met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Moscow. In the meeting, two parties discussed the revival and progress of the Afghan peace process, bilateral relations, and the promotion of regional connectivity as per the government sources.

Taliban representatives and the U.S officials, in the presence of representatives of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and UAE, held the first-ever broad scale gathering in the United Arab Emirates regarding the peace in Afghanistan. The meeting was the result of the continuous back-channel diplomatic efforts of the State Department of the U.S government over a course of two years. Now that the process of bilateral dialogue appears to be streamlining, the rest of the regional stakeholders must be on their edges to see the outcome catering their security and strategic needs as well.

The U.S President Donald Trump is getting edgier with each possible day to end the longest war in the history of the United States of America, which as it happens was also his election promise.

Before reaching Moscow, Foreign Minister visited Kabul, Tehran, and Beijing where key matters regarding the developing situations were undertaken. During the recent, second visit to Kabul in last 10 days, Shah Mahmood Qureshi briefed Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani about the first ever meet up of the United States’ officials and Taliban in the UAE.

Taliban have continuously been rejecting to accept any legitimate authority of the Kabul region and it was the reason why no representative of the Afghan government was the part of the UAE meeting. Foreign Minister Qureshi stressed the importance of both the countries for their strategic geolocation to act as the bridge for connecting rest of the regional powers.

Pakistan and China both want to see the multi-billion dollar investment in the form of China Pakistan Economic Corridor to remain secure; that very much needs peace in neighboring country, Afghanistan. The trajectory of the visits conducted by the foreign minister suggests the same. Apart from the economic interest of China pegged to the stability and security condition of Afghanistan and subsequently Pakistan, there is also a security dimension of the issue at play here.

The Taliban insurgents also have the contingents of Uighur fighters who have resisted that the Chinese state apparatus in Xinjiang province for a long time. Due to their time with the Insurgent group and wartime expertise, they are a potential threat for China in the long run if the war in Afghanistan comes to an end.

Taliban representatives and the U.S officials, in the presence of representatives of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and UAE, held the first-ever broad scale gathering in the United Arab Emirates regarding the peace in Afghanistan.

China has used the brute force to crush the rebellion in the insurgency-ridden province which has also seen the massive human right violations of the Uighur Muslim population. In the lines of these convoluted developments, other rounds of confrontation would be detrimental for the regional and internal security of China, especially after it has spread its economic wings across the continent in the form of Belt and Road Initiative.

The recent abrupt pulling out of troops from Syria on the command of the U.S President Donald Trump have left people speculating that we might get to see the same scenario brewing in Afghanistan. The U.S President Donald Trump is getting edgier with each possible day to end the longest war in the history of the United States of America, which as it happens was also his election promise.

Coming into power, he revisited the policy on the advice of his aides and induced a new South Asia policy which saw a resurge of intelligence operations against Taliban and efforts of trilateral dialogues side by side. The policy saw its demise in a matter of a year and the Trump administration had to increase their efforts in bringing the Taliban to the table. Owing to the current scenario, the exfiltration of the U.S troops in Afghanistan might come swiftly as many people are anticipating. Therefore every nation which is directly or indirectly involved in the issue seems to be protecting its own interest.

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